Writing for Real: A Handbook for Writing in Community Service

Writing for Real is a practical, process-oriented guide for students engaged in service-learning projects that involve research and writing.

This text compares and contrasts the kinds of assignments, research, and writing students encounter in academic contexts with those they find in community-based contexts. Concrete strategies help students work 1) to understand the fundamental similarities and differences between writing in schools and writing in the community; 2) apply academic research and writing skills to the purposes inherent in community-based writing; and 3) discover how community-based projects can inform, enrich, and extend their academic knowledge, research, and writing skills.

Writing for Real encourages and supports the work of students and teachers as they undertake community based-writing. This book is for students in writing-intensive classes with a service-learning component and for students who will write about their service learning.